Photo caption: Staff at Spring into Action celebrate receiving national lottery funding. From L-R: Lucy Hamlin, Lauri Bentley, Erin Blanchard, Sam Nott and Amanda Shepherd
Spring into Action CIC based in Accrington is celebrating after being awarded £219,440 in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
Spring into Action CIC will use their funding to develop their Meet N Match Events service across the North West. Meet N Match is a friendship and dating agency for adults with learning disabilities and autism, providing opportunities for individuals to meet like-minded people for friendship and dating.
New National Lottery funding will develop the Events element of the project, which provides events and nights out in local pubs and venues, giving people an opportunity for a real night out supported by staff and volunteers in a safe environment. People attending existing events in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside tell us: “The best thing about coming to Meet N Match events is meeting new people and being able to socialise. I attend the events every time they are on and I really missed it over lockdown, if I wasn’t coming here I would just be sitting on my own at home” Lewis B.
The funding will enable Spring into Action to launch 10 new events over three next three years across the North West and recruit around 25 volunteers to support the work National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.
Samantha Nott, Marketing and Events Coordinator said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this grant means that we can develop this much needed service. It allows us to recruit new staff members, including an Events Coordinator and a Volunteer Coordinator. Volunteers are vital to this work and without them we would not be able to support the amount of people that we do to make new friends. We are really proud to say we have volunteers that join us and stay with us because they are also passionate about the work that we are doing to reduce social isolation amongst people with learning disabilities and autism. This funding will make a big difference to people’s lives.”
During the pandemic, in 2020 alone, The National Lottery Community Fund distributed almost £1 billion to charities and community organisations across the UK.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk